Broadcast News

Virgin Media Business Network: Latest Blockbuster To Hit Vue

Vue Entertainment has selected Virgin Media Business to play the starring role in connecting all 82 of its cinemas with a brand new fibre optic network. With an opening night set for early 2014, the Wide Area Network (WAN) will link up all of Vue’s cinemas across the UK and make it possible for staff to monitor screens from one central location.
With movie-goers now demanding to see films in formats like 3D, higher resolution (4K), and High Frame Rate (HFR), Vue needed to revamp its old copper network to ensure its customers have an unrivalled digital experience. Virgin Media Business’ fibre network will move data transfer up a gear, making it at least four times faster than before. And thanks to the network’s resilience, Vue’s customers will get a much smoother experience online too. The boost in speed and network capacity means customers’ credit card transactions will be processed in a matter of seconds.
Films have evolved from being stored on celluloid, a transparent flexible film reel, to being distributed via computer hard drives. Each Vue cinema now has a digital projector and its own server. The network will link each one, making all screens easily accessible from one central location. With thousands of films being shown every day across 82 cinemas and 779 screens, Vue will be able to see how many cinema-goers they have in real-time and which films are most popular.
With better quality customer data, Vue will be able to give the people what they want by putting on more showings of the most popular films. It’ll also mean that Vue will be able to easily transfer movies between screens. So, if the latest box office hit is being shown in a 300-seat screen, but it looks like it will be a sell-out, then it can be easily switched over onto a bigger screen, helping Vue to boost revenue.
"The evolution of technology has triggered a massive change within our industry," explained Roland Jones, IT director, Vue Entertainment. "It was critical that we upgraded to a solution that could give us the speed and resiliency we need to deliver the next generation of cinematic experience to our customers. The great thing about Virgin Media Business’ network is that it will allow us to not only enhance the movie experience, but staff will see big improvements in the way they work.
"We’re an ambitious and energetic brand and only like to work with like-minded businesses. Virgin Media Business worked closely with us to understand exactly what we needed. We are one of the first in the film industry to be using a fibre optic network and we’re excited to be leading the way with this innovation."
Lee Hull, director of business markets, Virgin Media Business said: "Going to see the latest blockbuster is great fun, and we’re extremely pleased to be helping Vue make that experience even better. For businesses like Vue, where customer satisfaction is at the core of their values, out-dated corporate networks aren’t up to the challenge in an age where the latest films are shown in a much sharper quality, like 4K resolution, as well as in 3D.
"With cinema ticket sales continually on the up, we know that consumer demand for bigger and better films is growing. The technology to deliver state of the art film content is there in Vue, but it needs to be underpinned by super-fast networks. With our new network in place, Vue’s staff will be able to react to customer demand that bit quicker than their competitors can, making their customer service the next big thing to hit the silver screen." Virgin Media Business
(MH/CD)